Tendulkar has finished in 18th position, after jumping five places following his knock of 74 in his final innings in the Mumbai Test. He had entered the series in 24th which was his lowest since 1992.

Progress over the years in rankings

Tendulkar had made his Test debut against Pakistan in November 1989 after which he was ranked 97th with a total of 111 ratings points. He first made his way into the world’s top 50 in February 1990 after an innings of 88 against New Zealand at Napier.

His unbeaten 148 against Australia at Sydney in January 1992 had helped him move to 25th position. Later in the year, he made 111 against South Africa at Johannesburg to make his first appearance inside the top 20. His stars continued to rise and during the home series against England in early 1993, he reached the top 10.

With innings of 34 and 85 against the West Indies in Mumbai in November 1994, Tendulkar went top of the charts for the first time, overtaking Brian Lara.

Tendulkar held the position for only three months before Jimmy Adams, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Steve Waugh and Brian Lara again took over.

However, after scoring an unbeaten 155 in Chennai in March 1998, Tendulkar regained the number-one ranking from Steve Waugh. He was on top for most of 1998 before Waugh and Lara reclaimed the top spots.

It was in May 2000 when Tendulkar went top again, edging ahead of Lara and he stayed there for more than a year, before Andy Flower sneaked ahead.

A flurry of runs, culminating in 176 against Flower’s Zimbabwe in Nagpur in early 2002, which pushed him up to his career-best 898 points – put him top again.

Adam Gilchrist leapfrogged him in September 2002, and it would take eight years for Tendulkar to regain the top spot after innings of 214 and 53 not out against Australia in Bengaluru.

He clung onto top spot for the first half of 2011, albeit joint with Jacques Kallis

However, a disappointing tour of England that summer saw him drop out of the number-one place. He spent a total of 139 Tests (fourth most) and 1157 days (12th most) as the top-ranked batsman in Test cricket.